Lee Clark has warned Blues there can be no repeat of the Leeds United performance next weekend.

Blues are away again, at Derby County, and their record on their travels this season leaves much to be desired.

They have lost their last five away in the league and not scored in the last four of those trips.

Clark said Blues got what they deserved at Elland Road, with a terrible first-half showing the downfall.

“We have got to make sure at Derby that we are a hell of a lot better,” he said.

“I don’t do excuses, I do reality. I will never tell anyone what I tell players in the dressing room but we are all obviously disappointed because that wasn’t good enough. It was not acceptable to the badge on the front of the jersey.”

Clark thought Blues keenly-felt the absence of Tom Adeyemi, who was taken ill, and Jonathan Spector, who is out for two to three months with a thigh injury.

“We had to leave Tom at the hotel,” revealed Clark.

“We picked him up on the way home.

“He woke up in the morning and couldn’t get out of bed, due to sickness and diarrhoea.

“So that was a big blow to us, it shows you how important he is to us.

“We were missing Jonathan, too, and he’s been a very good player for us.

“There are opportunities there for players to stake a claim.

“But what can happen now is that no-one can have any complaints if they are left out of the team.”

Asked about the formation, Clark began with 3-4-3 and changed after the break, the manager sighed.

“This is what frustrates me about the game, because everyone is obsessed with formations and why do we win and why do we lose,’’ he added.

“It’s not because of formations, it’s simple: it’s players doing their jobs better than we did them yesterday.”

Dan Burn had a wretched afternoon, from the moment he missed a simple ball forward to allow Ross McCormack with a run on goal in the eighth minute (he should have scored).

Clark substituted Burn at half-time and went with a 4-2-1-3, Nikola Zigic (for Lee Novak) and Andrew Shinnie coming on.

In Blues’ last game, Burn made an error in the defeat by Bolton Wanderers. The loanee has been very consistent for Blues otherwise this season.

“He’s a young boy,” said Clark.

“One of the reasons I went with a back three, in terms of the three centre-backs, was that I felt he might need that security around him, to regain his confidence.

“Within 20 minutes, it wasn’t to be.

“He has been terrific. We will build him back up.”

Olly Lee made his starting debut for Blues, with Callum Reilly on the bench.

Clark explained: “It was a tough one for Olly. He has been terrific in training and with Tom ill, it was his chance.

“To be fair, Callum has had a bit of an illness as well. He had been getting some medication overnight and in the morning from the medical department, so he wasn’t 100 per cent.

“So that was the reason why I swayed with Olly, Callum hadn’t done anything wrong.